Ribadu probed Obasanjo and his Late Wife

Sometimes we judge based on our perception as at what is happening at the moment, sometimes we believe some people are unquestionable while we don't know they are also submissive to some forces that surround them. Imagine former EFCC chairman Malam Nuhu Ribadu whom his office was single-handedly created by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo can still query his boss. 

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has  said that the pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, investigated him and his late wife, Stella, even when he was  in charge as the nation’s leader.

Obasanjo, whose administration created the anti-graft agency, also alleged that the manner Ribadu carried out the  war against corruption created enemies for him (Obasanjo).

He  made the claims after  the former EFCC boss  presented a paper titled,   “Illicit Financial Flow and Governance of Natural Resources,” at the 3rd Tana High Level Forum on Security in Africa in Badir Dar, Ethiopia at the weekend.

The former President   said that rather than being afraid of the  enemies Ribadu created for him, “it is rather them that fear me.”Obasanjo, who acknowledged that the fight against corruption “comes with enemies,”    did not tell the audience about  the outcome of the investigations against him,  Stella, and his close associates. He also did not name the enemies that Ribadu created for him.

But the  former President   disclosed that Ribadu  almost lost his life when he was poisoned in the course of his duty. He described the incident as  a serious case that was “a matter of life and death.” He  told the gathering   how a serving minister in his administration, who was his senior in   secondary school, was  found wanting by the EFCC  and  “there was no issue of senior again.”

Obasanjo, who   is also the chairman  of the Tana Forum, agreed with  Ribadu’s submission that  a  willing political leadership  was the epicentre   of  any anti-corruption campaign.

Stating that  leadership   needed  relevant laws  to work with, he recalled how the bill establishing the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other-Related Offences  Commission   was whittled down by  the National Assembly  members who felt they could be victims  if it became a law.

 Ribadu had in his presentation offered  strategies  that  African countries  could follow to  check  illicit financial flow and repatriate  looted  funds  stashed away in other countries.

He said  that  African countries  needed  honest and committed leadership. examples.

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